LONDON  — Prince Charles says he has missed giving his family members a hug during the long weeks of lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

The Prince of Wales also acknowledged in a interview with Sky News on Thursday that he had not seen his father, the Duke of Edinburgh for many weeks. Prince Philip, who is shielding at Windsor Castle with Queen Elizabeth II, is set to celebrate his 99th birthday next week.

Speaking virtually from his Scottish home of Birkhall, Charles — the heir to the throne — was asked about being apart from his family. 

"Well, it's terribly sad, let alone one's friends,'' he said. "But fortunately, at least you can speak to them on telephones and occasionally do this sort of thing. 

"But it isn't the same is it? You really want to give people a hug," he said.

Charles, who himself suffered from COVID-19, said contracting coronavirus made him more determined to "push and shout and prod" for a more green approach and to have nature return to the "center of everything we do."